“We’re gonna miss you around here,” Renee announces, her eyes soft as her face glows in the light from the sparklers.
“B-but I’m not leaving,” I insist, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
Theseconnardsare gonna make me cry in front of everyone.
“You’ve been working full time at this bar for almost as long as me,” Monroe explains, “and even if you’ll still be around, it just...It’s going to be different, you know?”
Now she’s going to cry too. These assholes sure don’t know how to throw a party.
They do know how to make a girl feel very special.
“Besides,” Monroe continues after taking a deep breath, “you’re going after your dreams! People deserve cakes and surprise parties when they go after their dreams.”
“And shots,” Renee adds, nodding at the cake.
I look past the two of them and into the crowd. The whole staff is here tonight. Paige is skulking around near the back in one of her giant hoodies. I spot Roxanne and her boyfriend—no, husband—standing together, and even Valérie is hanging out with some servers with a beer in hand.
That sneaky bitch.
She raises her beer when she notices me watching, and I grin back at her.
It takes me a moment to find him.
Zach. My boyfriend. My handsome, sweet, hilarious boyfriend who happens to be making bank with his online business. After I’ve finished my program at Cheveluxe, we’re going to give Power Couple Extraordinaire Monroe and Julien a run for their money.
He’s standing a few feet away from everyone else, leaning against one side of the bar. His beard is shorter than usual today, giving him that sexy stubbly look I like so much on him. He’s wearing one of my favourite flannels—I know his flannel collection so well by now I have favourites—and he looks so damn handsome standing with one elbow on the bar that I can hardly keep myself from sending the cake flying and running over to jump in his arms.
They must have worked pretty hard on this thing, though, so instead I keep staring at Zach as I lick the back of my hand and pour the little salt packet over the wet spot.
He gives me the finger.
I lift the shot glass up and take one more look around the room, at all these people who came here tonight to celebrate me, to congratulate me, to be with me.
I know that even if none of them showed up tonight, even if I was walking into Cheveluxe this week with nobody but me on my team, I’d still be blasting the doors open and taking haircutting school by storm. It still makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have them all smiling at me now.
I lift the glass above my head and shout, “One for the road!”
The whole room shouts it back as I lick the salt and take the shot.
* * *
Most people have gonehome by midnight. The last few pieces of cake are still sitting on their tray on the bar. I already ate three, and Zach tugs on my arm to stop me when I try to take another.
“But I waaaant it,” I whine.
I’m a little tipsy.
“You told me to do whatever it took to stop you if you tried to eat another piece.”
I smirk at him. “So what are you gonna do to stop me?”
We’re standing by ourselves at the bar. After cutting the cake and having a few drinks, everybody crowded onto the dance floor for a couple hours of shaking our booties to everything from top forty hits to hair metal. They even played some Cyndi Lauper.
Now it’s just me, Zach, and a few of the people we’re closest with. Monroe is out later than I’ve seen her in a long time, cuddled up with her boyfriend on one of the couches. Roxy, Cole, Dylan, Renee, and Paige are playing some kind of game where they try to flip beer coasters over. Dylan does something they all seem to be impressed by, and I turn back to Zach as the group cheers.
“So? What are you going to do?” I pretend like I’m going in for the cake again.
“Hmmm.” He taps his finger on his chin. “Maybe this.”
